from Little Light

[Jeff Tucker <R3JMT%AKRONVM@vm1.cc.UAKRON.EDU>]

  The following appears in Little Light, Summer 1991,
published by The American Association of Them Heavy
People, PO Box 221, Cuyahoga Falls OH 44222-0221.
  Replies are welcome, as are letters to the editor
and other discussion.

BULLROARER

"The Instruments" is a series of articles, by various authors, covering the
various instruments Kate has used in her music.  Little Light assumes no
responsibility or liability for injury or damage caused by following the
instructions in this particular installment.
     We all know Kate uses some unusual ethnic instruments in her songs,
but this is the only one you could properly call dangerous. In view of this
fact, this article should probably be called how NOT to make a bullroarer.
For example, don't use weak string. Don't use near windows likely to break
if the string snaps (or rather, when the string snaps). But I'm ahead of
myself.
     In one of the KBC newsletters, Paddy Bush (Kate's rather unique
brother) gave a simple recipe for bullroarer production. Take a string, he
said, put it through the end hole in a ruler, and tie. Then swing it about
your head like a maniac.
     Well, it works, I can't deny it. But the weight of the ruler and the
thickness of the string does effect the performance of your instrument, and
using Paddy's formula might give you a silent aerophone.
     As a rule of thumb, you want to use the smallest but heaviest piece of
wood you can (it's best to stay between six and 18 inches in length)
combined with the thinnest but strongest string. Don't use fishing line,
this snaps pretty easily when twisted (besides it can cut your hands pretty
easily). A braided kite string works well.
     If you want to get fancy, you can carve your wood to a proper
bullroarer shape. Traditional bullroarers are a rhomboid, knife-blade
shape. The shape and surface imperfections of your wood will give it a
distinctive tone.
     After making several bullroarers, you will notice that the smaller the
 piece of wood you use, the higher the pitch. You might also notice that if
 you don't attach your string to a handle, it can chew up your hands pretty
 badly (even if you don't use fishing line). You will realize that when
 your string finally snaps the bullroarer becomes a formidable projectile,
 usually seeking out a window or spectator with uncanny accuracy (do NOT
 play your bullroarer in doors). Finally, you might observe (usually amidst
 swearing) that after marathon bullroarer performances, the little ones can
 get HOT!
     Kate used bullroarers in "The Dreaming", you can hear them at the end.
The aboriginal word for bullroarer is "ma ma li," and it is used in ritual
music. Ironically (for Kate), women are not allowed to look at bullroarers,
and custom is to put them to death if they do so (though this rule does not
hold amongst "civilized" aborigines). In a typical ceremonial song, the
bullroarer might represent the voices of ancestors or the call of animal
spirits.
     Though Kate's bullroarer is associated with Australian aborigines, the
bullroarer's area of distribution is wide. It was known in Paleolithic
Europe, ancient Greece, central Asia, Indonesia, Africa, Central and South
America, Australia, the South Seas, and in modern Europe and America as a
toy.
     The bullroarer here, as a toy? Indeed, one of our staffers has one as
a relic of her childhood. After a couple of weeks with your own bullroarer
(and after getting to know your local glass window installer) you might
wonder why they sell this sort of thing to children....